My sister often complains of smelling burning wood is this a sign or symptom of some weird disease and is she going to die?

I have heard that smelling burnt toast is a sign of a stroke. I could imagine that the two could be confused.

The burnt toast thing is only something I have read on the Internet so it is possible that it is completely wrong.

Maybe shes just crazy

maybe she has just developed this new sense where she has a nose like a dog and can smell burning wood from miles away,

This time of the year, she could simply have a very sensitive nose. I smell burning wood all the time. Because it is autumn and people are burning things.

Having said that, olfactory hallucinations are some of the most serious because they are uncommon and usually related to Bad Things.

what are olfactory hallucinations, and what causes them?

It’s a fancy way of saying “smelling things that just aren’t there”. There are a number of things that can trigger hallucinations. The one I remember the most is schizophrenia, but (and please note) I was a psych major, so of course mental disorders will be more easy for me to remember. The important take-away was that the professor said smelling things that aren’t there is always important to look into if it happens regularly.

But it is also very likely that she’s smelling something and identifying it that way and the other people around just don’t smell it. For whatever reason. Especially if she’s always commenting on the same smell in the same places.

well this did only start happening when she moved into her new house which was about 3 weeks ago maybe the new house has something to do with it

This will be hard, but to answer your questions: 1. Yes; 2. Yes.

See a doctor. Here is what one said in answer to this question:

“Some of the causes of distorted sense of smell are sinusitis, head trauma, diseases of the brain stem, mental illnesses like depression and schizophrenia.

Olfactory hallucinations can also be a sign of brain tumor. However, only a CT scan or MRI of brain will be able to confirm the diagnosis.

Please schedule an appointment with a neurologist.”

Curious404
1.That was a stupid answer
2.That was a stupid answer

I knew this was coming ;-) to clarify, we’re all going to die one day.

BTW…welcome to fluther.

oh lol thanks, and yes we will all die eventually, just some earlier than others

“some earlier than others”: I hope so, otherwise it’ll be true what they said about the Rapture.

Rapture?

Ur right. My humor was in poor taste. Please forgive my late night flub.

I recommend checking out the house, preferably with the help of a fire department representative. I kept smelling fish…found out my main breaker panel was cracked in half and melting. Bad juju.

I agree with Marina. My brother was diagnosed with a brain tumor the same day as Ted Kennedy was, after having had weird “smells” for nearly a year. His doctor didn’t think anything of it, but when my sister-in-law told her doctor, my brother was seen and tested the next day.

The neurologist said that every time an odd smell was experienced, it was a small stroke. The smells (and strokes) became more and more frequent.

Insist that she see a doctor. Better safe than sorry, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, etc.

(threadjack alert)

@cob: Unless I’m making part of this up, the Rapture is an element in the Book of Revelation, or else it’s a special evangelical
story, which says that at some point to be determined by God, all the people on earth will either ascend in some kind of whirlwind to Eternal Glory or they’ll stay down here and be forever damned. In either case they’ll all be dead at the same time. Getting to Heaven depends on whether you’ve accepted Jesus as your personal savior.